Team USA ended their pre-Olympic tourney the same way they started: with pure dominance. The Americans destroyed Nigeria 110-66 Monday night, with Carmelo Anthony leading the way (19 points.) DeMar DeRozan, meanwhile, continued to put on an aerial show. Per USA Basketball: In their final exhibition game before heading to Rio for the 2016 Olympic […]

The Americans destroyed Nigeria 110-66 Monday night, with Carmelo Anthony leading the way (19 points.)

DeMar DeRozan, meanwhile, continued to put on an aerial show.

Per USA Basketball:

In their final exhibition game before heading to Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games, Anthony led the U.S. in scoring with 19 points in just 19 minutes despite missing all six of his 3-point attempts. The last time he faced Nigeria, Anthony set the U.S. single-game scoring record at the 2012 London Olympics by draining 10-of-12 3s in a 156-73 win. […] “I set the bar too high,” Anthony said with a smile.

Nigeria went just 4-for-29 on 3-pointers, while committing 20 turnovers. […] “Obviously, they’re the No. 1 team in the world for a reason,” Nigeria coach Will Voigt said. “For us to shoot the percentage that we did from 3, and obviously, their defense is a big part of that, because they’re so good in transition, all of those misses led to big opportunities for them. They kind of feed off of that.”

The U.S. outscored Nigeria 22-7 in fast-break points and shot a blistering 53.9% from the field, including 13-for-33 from beyond the arc. Both Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan had four steals, and Kyle Lowry led the team with 11 assists, including two bold alley-oops to DeRozan and DeAndre Jordan. […] “He’s a high-flyer, and he’s a guy who they say, ‘Just throw it up to him from anywhere,’ so that’s what I’m doing,” Lowry said, referring to the 50-foot pass thrown to Jordan from several feet behind the half-court line.

]]>http://www.slamonline.com/media/slam-tv/watch-team-usa-romps-nigeria-110-66/feed/02016 NBAEHOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 1: DeAndre Jordan #6 of the USA Basketball Men's National Team goes for the dunk during the game against Nigeria during the USA Basketball Showcase on August 1, 2016 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)Mike Krzyzewski Says Team USA Didn’t Try to Humiliate Nigeria in 83-Point Routhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/mike-krzyzewski-says-team-usa-didnt-try-to-humiliate-nigeria-in-83-point-rout/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/mike-krzyzewski-says-team-usa-didnt-try-to-humiliate-nigeria-in-83-point-rout/#commentsFri, 03 Aug 2012 14:15:50 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=223285

It was supposed to be a time for celebration and relaxation. Team USA had just cruised to a record-setting 156-73 laugher over Nigeria, and preparing to take a day off.

Instead, coach K went on the offensive, angrily defending his squad from a reporter’s suggestion that they had tried to embarrass their opponents during the rout.

Per the NY Daily News:

A foreign reporter initially asked Nigeria coach Ayodele Bakare if he felt the Americans were guilty of running up the score. Bakare, though, sounded more impressed than angry by what the NBA players had accomplished. Moments later, Mike Krzyzewski, unsolicited, addressed the topic, and called the question offensive.

“We didn’t play LeBron [James] and Kobe [Bryant] in the second half, and with Carmelo (Anthony) shooting like that, we benched him,” Krzyzewski said after Carmelo Anthony scored a U.S. Olympic record of 37 points in 14 minutes and 29 seconds. “We didn’t take any fast breaks in the fourth quarter, and we played all zone. You have to take a shot every 24 seconds, and the shots we took happened to be hit. “I take offense to this question because there’s no way in the world that our program in the United States sets out to humiliate anymore.”

Coach K then turn to Bakare and said: “Coach would think it humiliating if we didn’t play hard.”

Some fans and media will try to turn this into a big story about the USA making a mockery of their foes, but that’s not the case at all. Aside from gunning for the 156 points late in the game after someone informed them that a record was within reach, the Americans simply played their game and ran the Nigerians off the floor (who seemed more impressed with the beatdown than angry.)